


A Moment To Remember

by AriesOnMars



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 12:50:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14057352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriesOnMars/pseuds/AriesOnMars
Summary: The cosmic jubilee gives the off-colors the perfect chance to steal the fastest ship Homeworld has to offer. Lars just has to distract it's rightful owner long enough to make sure they can make a clean escape.





	A Moment To Remember

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TereziMakara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TereziMakara/gifts).



The Sun Incinerator was a thing of beauty. Sleek, powerful, fast, and hers. After dealing with thieves, saboteurs, and stowaways this ship was everything Emerald deserved. It would be officially gifted to her at the climax of the cosmic jubilee with everyone’s eyes on her. She could hardly wait. If Emerald was less inclined to be patient, or less invested in seeing everyone’s admiration and envy, she would forget the jubilee and take her new ship out right now. But, no. Better to wait and make everyone watch the Sun Incinerator’s first takeoff. It would be a moment to remember.

 

“Ma’am,” a Citrine broke Emerald out of her thoughts. “The party’s going to be starting soon.”

 

“Of course,” Emerald sighed. She took one last look at her ship in the hangar and then turned away from it. With a fluid motion she pulled off her cloak and draped it over her arm, pausing for just a moment to collect her thoughts and focus on her physical form. She closed her eye and her body began to glow, losing the color in a brilliant blinding whiteness for just a little while before she began to reshape herself. It was less than a minute and the color faded back into her body, her jumpsuit and the few pieces of armor gone and replaced with a billowing, flowing dress. The fabric was layered over her a multitude of times, in black, green, and yellow of nearly every shade. It created a voluminous skirt that ruffled around her legs every time she took a step, with a train behind her that glittered at the edges as little crystalline decorations caught the light above her to draw attention to her. Typically symmetry was adored, and Emerald normally complied with that, but tonight she allowed her own asymmetrical gem placement to shine through her design. Her dress was held up on only one shoulder, clasped with a brilliant shining cluster of glittering green crystals that cascaded down her bodice until the little sparkling pieces were so far dispersed down the numerous folds of her dress that they were all but lost. As she walked out of the hangar she stood a little straighter and smiled a little more until the pointed tips of her fangs were showing. Already she was being watched, and she reveled in the attention. If only it didn’t feel as though there was one little thing she was missing…

 

As she left through the hangar door a soft sound caught her attention. Standing there was a Ruby and a Pearl, the first obviously tense and the second with her eyes cast down. Emerald didn’t think much of either of them and tossed her cloak to the Pearl who caught it haphazardly.

 

“Find somewhere to put that, will you?” Emerald waved her hand at the servant and looked over her. She was a rare color, her gem a silky gray, her dress nearly black and slim to suit her figure, with a translucent slip of a stole wrapped around her shoulders. Emerald smiled. Ah, that’s what she was missing! She turned away from the Gems and continued on her way, focusing again on her form, but just a little change to bring about her own decorated stole, deep green with shining, intricate black designs and edged in fluffy white fur. A Gem’s attire was only limited to her imagination, and tonight Emerald didn’t want to be lacking at all.

 

* * *

 

 

“I found it!” Rhodonite said with a rushed whisper as she came into the storage basement.

 

“You found a ship?” Lars asked.

 

“I found the fastest ship here,” Rhodonite said, halfway between proud and nervous. Emerald’s cloak was still held in a pair of her hands and she twisted the fabric uncomfortably. “But it’s heavily guarded. Are you sure we can’t take one of the other ones?”

 

“If we have... the fastest ship... then nobody... will be able... to catch us,” Fluorite said. She had been looking through what she could in the supplies in the basement. Not too much would help them other than the fact she’d manage to scrounge up enough clothing to get Lars something new and less conspicuous to wear.

 

“Rhodonite’s Ruby and Pearl are going to run into an Emerald!” Padparadscha gasped suddenly. Rhodonite jumped with a little yelp at the sudden outburst. “It’s going to be Emerald’s third time being at the hangar since she arrived.”

 

“Wait, _third?_ ” Rhodonite suddenly looked more nervous than before. “No, no way. That’s who’s supposed to get the ship, I heard the guards talking about her. We won’t be able to get into it if someone keeps checking in on it!”

 

“No, this’ll be fine. You can get into the hangar, I can get into the ballroom,” Lars said. “I’ll keep her distracted.”

 

“How are you going to do that?” Rutile asked and her sister sighed. “It’s impossible, as soon we you get close to the jubilee the sensors will go off. Everyone who isn’t invited gets found and kicked out.”

 

“Not everyone,” Lars grinned and took the cloak out of Rhodonite’s hands, putting it around his own shoulders with flare. “I haven’t set off a sensor yet, have I?”

 

* * *

 

 

Stepping into the cosmic jubilee itself was a strange sensation. Lars was both weirded out and a little relieved by the lack of food. He wasn’t hungry anymore, and he wouldn’t have trusted Gem food even if he was, but parties and food were just such a package deal on Earth that seeing a huge gala filled with people milling about without even a plate of hors d'oeuvres in sight was strange. But no time to worry about that now. He had a mission, and his team needed time. Rutile was going to trip an alarm somewhere close enough to the hangar that the guards there would be the ones who’d have to check it out, but far enough to give the others time to get out of the tunnels and into the ship they chose. Rhodonite already had the temporary access codes they needed, they were weak just because the Sun Incinerator was being given to Emerald who would have changed them immediately after. And Lars… Lars just needed to make sure that Emerald wasn’t there to call the guards back to the hangar before they were ready to go.

 

Which first meant finding her. When Rhodonite first gave him the description he thought he was going to have it easy, but an overly fancy dress in a sea of fancy dresses and suits was pretty hard to find. He walked through the arched entryway, glancing at the scanners for just a moment. But they didn’t see him without a gem, and the same sort of nothing that happened from not seeing him was the same sort of nothing as if he was supposed to be there, so the guards he walked by didn’t even look at him. He kept to the outskirts of the crowd, trying to make it look like he wasn’t searching the crowds looking for someone all in green that fit the description. It was easy at first, then Gems were clearing the floor and he was suddenly trapped. Not quite jostled around, but definitely where he couldn’t move easily without bumping into somebody.

 

The party guests were murmuring around him and Lars looked over the head of a short blue Gem to see a band coming together at the center of the floor. The music started to flow soon after, and pairs took to the dance floor, but not nearly so many as he would have liked. He still didn’t have a lot of room to move—and suddenly there she was. Emerald wasn’t nearly so shy about pushing someone out of her way, and she looked to be leaving. Without much else to do to distract her Lars reached out to grab her hand as she came close to him and he stepped backwards out of the crowd and onto the cleared floor. She stumbled and he caught her around the waist to keep her up and close, his other hand still holding hers, and he took a step back into a careful movement to get her on her feet and into the same movements as the others dancing to the growing song.

 

There was a chuckle and Emerald found her feet on her own, her free hand settling on Lars’ shoulder, and her eye narrowed at him as she gave him a small grin, “Was that really the best way to get me to dance you could think of?”

 

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” Lars managed to grin back at her. He’d known about Emerald, the off-colors had been getting more than a few of their supplies from her, but he hadn’t actually been close to her until now, and it looked like she hadn’t seen him either or she wouldn’t be smiling now. Well, that wouldn’t last long, but at least he had an advantage right now.

 

“It looks like it did,” Emerald gave a little laugh and the lights caught on her fangs giving her a threatening look even while enjoying herself. “So, who has the pleasure of dancing with me?”

 

Lars stumbled for a moment, both in replying and in his steps, but he recovered both as quickly as he could and answered the only Gem name he could think of, “Morganite.”

 

“Morganite,” Emerald said thoughtfully, and she moved her hand just a little to better guide Lars despite his position to lead. “Have you reformed recently?”

 

Again Lars was put out of step, but he shook it off and managed an awkward grin, “That obvious, huh?”

 

“It happens now and then,” Emerald shrugged. “You’re still not moving fluidly, but that should fade.”

 

“I’m still getting used to the way things are now,” Lars admitted. It wasn’t entirely accurate for what happened to him… but it wasn’t inaccurate either, really. It was closer than anything anyone on Earth would be able to compare it to, at least from the way the rest of his team had described it when they’d managed to leave a soldier as nothing more than a gemstone laying on the ground once. “Has it happened to you?”

 

“Not for fifty years,” Emerald snorted out a laugh. The music was picking up it’s pace and the two of them went with it. Lars took the lead again, guiding Emerald away from the entryway nearest to the hangar.

 

“Some of us do a little more fighting with our feet on the ground,” Lars said with a grin. Emerald narrowed her eye at him again, and he took the moment she paused to remove his hand from her waist and twirl her with his hand still clasped on hers. The layers of her dress rose with the movement, the little glittering gems lost in the ruffles and folds of the fabric seen for a brief moment in a gloriously gorgeous display before Lars pulled her back to him again.

 

“I don’t remember _you_ being awarded with a ship,” Emerald frowned at him when they were close again.

 

“Really?” Lars laughed. He was feeling good like this, even surrounded by enemies with one of the most dangerous in his arms he felt in control. He just had to make sure he stayed that way. “I think I’m going to be getting a great one soon.”

 

“I know every name on the ceremony list,” Emerald said low, her hand gripping his shoulder harder. “And a Morganite was _not_ one of them.”

 

“I might have lied about that part,” Lars admitted with a chuckle. The fingers dug into his shoulder harder for a moment—and then suddenly let go as Emerald jerked back in shock when the alarms started sounding. That was the start of it, Rutile would be running back to the ship, the others should have already started getting on, and with his dancing partner suddenly distracted Lars took the opportunity to let go of her and run to the entryway.

 

“Get back here!”

 

The head-start Lars had only lasted for half a second before Emerald was after him. Her dress flared and the train behind her raised like a glittering, angry tail whipping behind her. Thankfully while he’d looked fairly under-dressed at the party Lars had the right outfit for running in. He glanced over his shoulder once and nearly regretted it. Emerald was hot on his trail, even in the voluminous dress she was easily keeping up with him, maybe even gaining. The only saving grace was that from the scanning device in the doorway to the jubilee there was a screen of yellow light keeping everyone who hadn’t made a mad dash to the exit trapped inside. Not only was the alarm tripped but the whole building was going into lock-down. Lars looked in front of him again and couldn’t help but slow when he saw the same bright, yellow screen of light at the end of the hall that lead into the hangar.

 

“I have you now!” Emerald’s voice carried, loud and triumphant, and Lars felt almost guilty for what he did next.

 

“Not quite,” Lars called back as he looked over his shoulder again. He grinned, waved, and ran forward just as Emerald nearly reached him. He slipped through the light like it was just that—because to him it was. But to Emerald’s reaching hand it was so much more and she was shocked and thrown back from the barrier.

 

“What?!” she cried out as she held her wrist, her hand still thrumming with energy, and she glared after him.

 

“Thanks for the dance!” Lars yelled out through the emptied hangar. Near the Sun Incinerator there was an access panel in the ground, usually for unloading supplies, but this time it was being shoved up from underneath by Rutile. Lars dashed there first and gripped the edge of it, pulling as hard as he could and getting it open enough for the twins to push their way through and get up into the hangar.

 

“Did it work?” Rutile gasped as they got to their feet.

 

“It worked,” Lars said as he pulled them along towards the ship.

 

“Hurry!” Rhodonite was at the door of the Sun Incinerator, just inside the ship, and anxious enough she was bouncing a little. From inside Padparadscha’s voice rang out predicting the lock-down of the jubilee that Lars had just escaped from.

 

“Flourite?” He asked as he got Rutile in first past Rhodonite.

 

“In the engine room,” the fusion replied quickly.

 

“Good, then let’s get out of here,” Lars said. He paused as he was about to get into the newly acquired ship and glanced back at the sealed entrance. Even if she had wanted to leave Emerald was trapped and she was still watching him. Lars grinned wider, gave her a mock-salute, and finally ducked inside the ship.

 

The Sun Incinerator’s first takeoff really was a moment to remember.


End file.
